Baseball As A National Pastime

"Baseball as America." Academic Search Premier. Spec. issue of USA Today Magazine 1 Apr. 2002: n. pag. EBSCO. Web. 1 Dec. 2015. The Baseball Hall of Fame is an iconic American landmark, which houses thousands of artifacts from baseball's crude beginnings to its current day glory. This piece is simple, yet it demonstrates what an important aspect of American culture baseball has become. The artifacts demonstrate how far baseball has come, among its highlights are Jackie Robinson's uniform, articles from the All-American Girls Professional Baseball League, and even "Shoeless" Joe Jackson's cleats. Pictures accompany the article which adds the needed bit of glamour to illustrate how greatly baseball has influenced American

A pastime is a hobby that is performed in someone’s spare time. The term America’s pastime is something that the entire nation enjoys and participates in. Since its creation, baseball has taken the top spot as the nation’s favorite recreation. For generations it filled the homes of Americans whether it be via television, conversation, or participation. Families would travel together to their local baseball stadium and root for the home team. Kids would organize games at their local baseball field and play until dark. Stars like Babe Ruth and Joe DiMaggio were idols to fans, both young and old. It was evident that baseball was in the peoples hearts and truly was America’s pastime. However, today there is a debate whether baseball is still The United States number one choice of hobby. It is unclear whether it actually is America’s pastime or if that term is just associated with the game. Although the game has deep roots, due to the rise in popularity of other professional sports, a drop in baseball game viewings and a decrease in the number of young fans, baseball should no longer be considered America’s pastime.

America’s pastimes are Football and Baseball, which are similar yet vastly different. Enough though Baseball and football may require some of the same talents they are also different in many ways.

The evolution of baseball has changed everything about baseball everything is different since the beginning ,including the players and how they play every new era has been better and their knowledge and how the play.The new generation of baseball players are showing baseball something they have never seen before.

In a recent poll, football has been voted by the fans to be the new pastime of America. This may be a result of a few problems that are present in baseball, mainly salaries and the price they pay on the fans, but also the fact that games are starting later and later each year in order to

World War II was one of the most tragic, depressing wars in history. There was poverty, rationing of food and clothing, hunger, and death. The middle class had a hard time functioning regularly and some families had to say goodbye to their fathers, brothers, cousins, uncles, or sons. World War II put a large hole in our nation, but our national pastime had no trouble filling the gap. Baseball gained a lot of popularity during the roarin’ twenties, which grew throughout the thirties and held its strength in people’s hearts through the early forties. Attendance nationwide spiked during the United States’ involvement in World War II(1941-1945). Whether that was due to a nation looking for a bone to chew while their family was at war, the uprise

From the sandlot to stadiums seating over fifty thousand people, the game of baseball has provided people of all ages with a

The article “America’s Pastime” by Robert S. Fay and Tom Pfannoch, teaches readers about the history of baseball. The first unofficial baseball games were played in the early 1800’s, these games otherwise known as “town ball”. One of the earliest organizations to influence modernized baseball was the knickerbockers, the knickerbockers put together a set of rules and gave the game structure which helped standardize how the game is played today. Soon after, the game spread throughout the country and gained popularity among players and spectators as well, which led to the professional sport of baseball. Following the professionalization of the sport many leagues were formed, the present day MLB (Major League Baseball) has been considered America’s

Baseball is America’s pastime. Thousands of fans every season gather in stadiums nationwide to watch as players take the diamond. People of all ages have a love for baseball, after all it is the all American sport. Baseball was loved by millions until one day when the truth came out. The 1919 World Series had been rigged. Hearts were broken and sadness spread across America. These crooked people didn’t intentionally try to ruin baseball but there were reasons why these men went astray. People didn’t want to believe it was true… but it was. The Chicago White Sox had intentionally thrown the series and let the Cincinnati Reds win (encyclopedia). There began the painful tribulation of the Black Sox scandal.

Baseball is referred to as “America’s Pastime.” Many people argue it is one of the hardest sports to succeed in. Out of the four major sports in the United States, hitting a 95 mile per hour fastball is a goal only few can accomplish at a professional level. With only 750 players throughout 30 Major League Baseball (MLB) teams, the odds of making it to “The Show” are highly unlikely. To make it to the big leagues as an African American player was an even harder feat to accomplish in the mid to late 1900’s. Baseballs Greatest Experiment tells the story of how MLB was an all white mans game up until the death of Commissioner Kennesaw Mountain Landis in 1944. Team owners and the commissioner did not want to integrate African Americans into the MLB; “some experts argued that the absence of blacks in the majors stemmed from their lack of talent, intelligence and desire” ( Tygiel, 32). Since Jackie Robinson overcame many obstacles, baseball players and fans alike can argue that he paved the way for African Americans in baseball and challenged societal social structure.

Baseball has for a long time been a staple in the American sporting culture as baseball and America have grown up together. Exploring the different ages and stages of American society, reveals how baseball has served as both a public reflection of, and vehicle for, the evolution of American culture and society. Many American ways including our landscapes, traditional songs, and pastimes all bear the mark of a game that continues to be identified with America's morals and aspirations. In this paper I will be addressing the long residuals of baseball as it specifically relates to the emergence of the

Baseball; America’s pastime. The history of the game is just as much a part of America’s story as the Liberty Bell. There is no place that history is preserved more than the small town of 1,800 residents, Cooperstown, NY; home of the National Baseball Hall of Fame. Since 1936, the Hall of Fame has immortalized 215 of the most revered men to ever grace a ball diamond. Nearly every era of the game is depicted; with names like Cobb, Ruth, DiMaggio, Williams, and Mantle forever having their likeness emblazoned in Bronze, telling their stories for generations to come (Baseball Hall, n.d.). However, there is one era that has no representation for immortality and there is a large debate as to if it ever should; the Steroid Era.

Major League Baseball is known as “America’s Pastime”. The human element in the game makes it exciting and unpredictable. Baseball remains, as it should, as an un-digitalized and an untimed sport. In 2014, Major League Baseball expanded the instant replay allowed challenges from solely home-run challenges, to almost everything, excluding only the calls on balls and strikes. Fans’ request was one of the reasons this was done. Another reason was there had been a handful of bad calls by umpires, which prompted the expansion of instant replay allowed challenges. Additionally, some thought it would make the game more interesting to watch by trying to limit the amount of incorrect calls by umpires. However, there are some flaws in the

A pastime is an activity that someone does for their enjoyment rather than for work. The Civil War soldiers are strong examples as to why baseball is the national pastime. The nervous anticipation that grips a solider as they prepare for battle. Their job consists of tasks that if performed incorrectly could result in fatalities. It is hard to imagine that an individual could block out the death and suffering that goes along with the job of being a civil war solider. This is why the stories of solider using baseball as a recreational pastime are amazing to me. A private in Virginia wrote home to his family saying:

November 24TH, 1887, football fans used boxing gloves and broomsticks to play the very first, official, game of softball. Just a little over four decades earlier, Alexander Cartwright, the “father of baseball” formalized the rules, or codes, of “townball”. What is “townball”? Who exactly is Alexander Cartwright? Moreover, what on earth does this have to do with fast-pitch softball? These are all valid questions you may or, may not have right now.